Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 90

‘This is strange.’

Baek Seolhwa, the representative of the Seolhwa Guild, had been feeling an odd sense of danger since earlier.

It was extremely rare for someone of her status, an S-rank Hunter, to feel a sense of danger in a D-rank dungeon.

She had bid on this D-rank dungeon to upload a dungeon video on her MyTube channel after a long time.

Recently, there had been criticism that she had only been posting everyday life videos, and since this was a dungeon with Mud Golems, which could be profitable, she had bid without a second thought.

But something about the situation was starting to feel off.

“Representative! We haven’t received any contact from the search team!”

“Is there any communication interference?”

“No, the communication is functioning normally. It seems something has happened with the search team!”

Twenty minutes ago, contact was lost with the search team, which was made up entirely of A-rank Hunters.

That wasn’t all.

Now, in the vast area she was in, unknown black slime was being found.

Even Baek Seolhwa, who had fought many monsters since awakening, didn’t recognize this unknown slime.

‘…Something is here.’

The instincts of magic users were surprisingly accurate.

Magic usually manifests through the brain.

This process strengthens the brain with mana, and the enhanced brain then boosts one’s intuition.

Baek Seolhwa raised her mana with her fingertips. The mana she drew from her fingers extended outward, forming a snowflake.

Zzaeeng-!

The snowflake she had created touched the black slime.

A cold chill that could freeze even the hardest substances poured out, but the black slime ignored it and consumed the snowflake.

‘A substance that even eats my mana?’

Though her mana was just barely at the S-rank level, it was still the mana of an S-rank.

It wasn’t something that could be neutralized by a D-rank dungeon.

What was clear in this situation was that this wasn’t a normal D-rank dungeon.

There could be dangers lurking, unknown to her.

At the very least, Baek Seolhwa was not the type to recklessly jump into unknown dangers with unnecessary confidence.

“Contact the Baegmyeong Church.”

A substance that neutralizes mana.

There was a high chance that the Baegmyeong Church knew about it. These strange and unknown things had been handled by the Baegmyeong Church recently.

The subordinate standing next to her, his eyes wide, spoke up.

“The Baegmyeong Church? We don’t need their help in a D-rank dungeon…”

“When did I ask for your opinion on my decisions? Just do as I say!”

Baek Seolhwa shouted at her subordinate irritably.

After receiving a scolding, the subordinate bowed 90 degrees and responded loudly.

“I’m sorry! I’ll contact them right away!”

“You keep adding unnecessary comments. You know I don’t like arguing, right? Can we at least get through this week’s schedule properly…?”

“Representative.”

“What?”

“There’s another dungeon I bid on just in case. You don’t need to worry too much.”

Baek Seolhwa stared at the man who reported politely to her.

Team leader Lim Heesu of Team 2.

He was an A-rank Hunter with quick situational judgment, and she had been keeping an eye on him.

“You thought I wouldn’t be able to clear this dungeon?”

“Of course not. I just thought you might not be satisfied with only one dungeon, so I prepared another. If we don’t manage the monster hunt, I’ve already arranged to sell the bidding rights.”

“Well, that’s useful. Good job.”

“It was just my duty.”

Baek Seolhwa slowly reached out and patted Lim Heesu’s cheek.

He had a fairly decent face, adequate combat power, and was well-prepared.

He seemed quite useful.

‘Not bad.’

Just as she was thinking various things in her mind, some people started running from a distance.

As they got closer, their faces became visible.

They were the search team that had lost contact earlier, although they had some injuries.

The search team, now reunited with the main force, took a moment to catch their breath. Then, the team leader approached Baek Seolhwa, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry, Representative. Our communication equipment was destroyed during the search.”

“What’s ahead?”

“There were some traps that didn’t belong in a D-rank dungeon, so it took a while to disarm them. We’ve confirmed the boss room’s location.”

The search team leader was a scout-type player.

He waved his hand briefly and summoned a map of the dungeon’s passage in the air. This was the skill, most commonly used by scout-type players.

Baek Seolhwa took the map he handed her and quietly examined the scout leader’s entire body.

She then spoke casually.

“Good job. Let’s get out of here.”

“The boss room is just ahead, Representative. It won’t take long-”

She immediately released her mana.

Crackkkk-!

Everything her mana touched was covered in ice.

[Skill is being cast.]

In the blink of an eye, the search team was trapped in ice, and the remaining guild members were startled and distanced themselves.

Baek Seolhwa looked at the search team trapped in the ice. Her face twisted in displeasure.

“What the hell did they touch?”

As the black slime began to spread from the transparent ice prison, like ink seeping out, a red-bordered message window appeared before her eyes.

[Warning! A fatal error is occurring in this dungeon!]

[]

[The entrance to the dungeon has been forcefully sealed. You cannot escape until the source of the danger is removed.]

[An unknown passage somewhere in the dungeon has been opened.]

And at that moment…

Kraaaash!

A huge explosion rang out from behind, and a massive hole was blown open.

Baek Seolhwa turned her head to look in that direction.

Two men were walking into the dust-filled chamber.

How much time had passed?

Finally, the dust cleared, and a cheeky voice echoed through the chamber.

“I made a mistake. I meant to break only a little, but this is all your fault, senior.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Bow your head. If it’s hard, I can plant them for you.”

“I’ll bow my head!”

One of the men suddenly dropped his head to the floor, while the other leisurely looked around the chamber and spoke.

“Don’t mind us. Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’re just the porters, after all. We’ll leave quietly.”

‘What are these guys?’

It was at that moment that Baek Seolhwa’s head began to spin.

As I always say, life doesn’t always go the way you think it will.

If even the great wave that is life doesn’t go as planned, then the smaller wave of “plans” also sometimes doesn’t follow the expected course.

Moreover, in my case, there has never been a time when my plans went smoothly.

I was truly born with bad luck.

And once again, this bad luck came into play.

“This is troublesome.”

The original plan was to follow them from a slightly distant position from the main team of the Seolhwa Guild.

That’s why I deliberately had Yoon Tae-hwan act as the guide and lead the way.

“Yoon-sunbae, you said you know the way.”

“Well, the thing is, I’m just a porter…so I’m not really familiar with guild plans…”

“Yeah, what’s the point of arguing now? Just knock your head. There’s a rock beside you, right? Put it between your head and hit it.”

“Yes!”

This incompetent fool didn’t even know the way.

So, I just cleared a path towards where I could feel mana for a moment, but the cave walls were even more useless than I had thought.

I barely hit it, and yet this huge hole opened up.

And, of course, as per my unlucky fate, the main team of the Seolhwa Guild was staring at me blankly in front of the hole.

Some of them were covered in ice, and there was a woman standing in front of them glaring at me.

I could easily tell that the woman was Baek Seolhwa.

“Looks like you were playing freeze tag. You’re doing recreation during your break, so you must get along well with your guild members. Haha! I’m kind of envious. I used to play a lot of freeze tag with my little sister too…”

Whoosh—!

Before I could finish my line, Baek Seolhwa swung her hand and shot an ice spear at me.

An ice spear the size of a human body passed right by me.

Had I not slightly twisted my body, it would have pierced me.

“Even though I interrupted your recreation time, that doesn’t warrant death, does it?”

“What are you?”

“As I just said, I’m Kim In-wook, a daily porter today. And instead of worrying about me…”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

“You should be worried about those frozen people behind you, don’t you think? Someone seems to have played freeze tag with them.”

Shatter!

The people frozen behind her broke through the ice and rushed straight towards Baek Seolhwa.

They were covered in black, tar-like slime, and once freed from their restraints, they immediately charged at her.

“Damn it!”

Baek Seolhwa cursed loudly and raised an ice wall. Then, she quickly created an ice platform beneath her feet and skated backward.

I had seen her on her MyTube channel before, where she always tried to use pretty words, but meeting her in person…people are different when you meet them face to face.

“What are you idiots doing! Fight!”

“D, Director! But our guild members…”

“Then let those bastards kill you!”

She shouted like that and scattered her mana into the air. Soon, her mana transformed into icicles and mercilessly poured down on the black tar creatures.

Her speed in abandoning her comrades was quick, that’s for sure.

Usually, when ordered to attack fellow guild members, her subordinates would hesitate, but she had no such hesitation.

She rained down ice magic without mercy.

It was clearly in stark contrast to Director Choi, who hesitated and even got wounded to avoid attacking his subordinates, but it wasn’t necessarily a wrong decision.

Director Choi’s side was simply more romantic, but realistically speaking, her judgment was correct.

It was a cold and logical judgment, very much like that of a mage.

“This opponent is troublesome.”

“Y, yes? Um… In-wook-ssi! Is the noise because…”

“Don’t worry about our Yoon-sunbae, just keep banging your head.”

“Yes!”

It seemed the stone hit his forehead properly, as blood was dripping down his face.

It seemed like he didn’t even notice, so I’ll just leave it be.

“Hoo.”

For now, entering quietly and leaving quietly according to Director Kim’s plan was out of the question.

At this point, I had to switch to a contingency plan, but the problem was that I hadn’t prepared a contingency plan.

Moreover, the energy coming from those black tar blobs was anything but ordinary.

There was definitely some divine power mixed in, but that was a mass of desires, very similar to demonic energy.

It was truly a contradiction wrapped up in one.

Originally, I had planned not to interfere much, but if I didn’t, I felt like everyone here would die.

After a brief moment of hesitation, my choice was clear.

-Crack!

I decided to lend a hand for a moment.

I grabbed the neck of the black monster that was about to swallow Baek Seolhwa and looked down at her with a surprised expression.

“I think you might need some help, don’t you?”

“You bastard!”

“I brought it as Director Kim told me to, but you know what? Director Kim also has some divine powers.”

I took a piece of paper I had folded from my pocket with my left hand and threw it at Baek Seolhwa.

She unfolded it as soon as she picked it up, and then said with a confused expression.

“…Dungeon subjugation participation approval?”

“As I said earlier, I’m here as a porter. They said it’s illegal to engage in combat inside the dungeon without the approval of the dungeon bidder. If you just sign that document, I can help you.”

“Sign it for some stranger I don’t even know…”

Boom!

“Leader!”

“My mana, my mana doesn’t work! You have to get out of here!”

Screams erupted from all around.

The combatants of the Seolhwa Guild started to be overwhelmed by the black monsters. And those who were hit by the monsters started to rise up, still covered in black goo.

Baek Seolhwa looked at her subordinates with a distorted expression. Then, she turned her head back towards me.

“What do you want?”

“Quick on the calculations. I don’t really want anything. Just let me join you in exploring this dungeon. Since the dungeon is sealed, we can’t get reinforcements from outside anyway, right?”

“Are you sure you can handle these monsters?”

“You sure are a customer who’s overly suspicious for no reason.”

Whoosh—!

I infused divine power into the black monster I held in my right hand. The black goo covering it melted into ash, and the unconscious body of a person appeared.

“Is this enough?”

“Did you know this would happen when you came here?”

“Why would that matter? I get to accomplish my goal, and you get to save your life and the lives of your subordinates. It’s a win-win.”

“…Fine. I’ll sign it.”

Baek Seolhwa made a quick judgment like a true mage. She wrote her name at the bottom of the contract and immediately finished signing.

“Good decision.”

“Since it’s the way you wanted, now I hope you’ll take off your mask.”

“Mask? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

At that, Baek Seolhwa looked me straight in the eye and said.

“Kim Siwoo. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you?”

This is why I can’t stand sharp-witted mages.